Improvement in steam-pumps



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Steam-Pumps.

N0.|48 819, Patented March 24,1874.

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ROSCOE J. GOULD, OF NEWARK, NEV JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-PUMPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 148,819, dated March 24, 1874; application filed February 26, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Roscon J. GoULD, of Newark, county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Steam-Pumps, of which the following is a specication:

The invention is intended mo're particularly for steam fire-engines, and analogous very quick-acting pumps, where an unusually free passage is desired for the induction; butit may be used with some advantage for various other classes of pumps. I adopta construction and mode of operation whereby great freedom is obtained for the admission ofwater. My arrangement avoids some of the disad- I vantages which have attended other efforts in this line.

One advantage .of my invention is that, while I operate with a puppet motion, and can thus endure any amount of grit in the water without inducing mischief, there is no loss of water, as in pumps with ordinary suctionvalves, because there is no displacement or backward movement of the water, as in the closing of ordinary valves.

The following is a description of what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

The accompanying drawings form part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a vertical section. Fig. 2 is a section at right angles thereto. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of one ofthe valves on a larger scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

A2 is the exterior fixed casing, and A1 is the interior fixed casin g. These parts may be cast together, and the whole adapted to be firmly bolted upon a fixed frame-work, A. A pipe, al, conducts the water to the interior of the casing Al, and a discharge-pipe, a2, conducts the water away from the chamber between the two casin gs A1 and A2. D is a movable cylinder, connected by rods d d to yokes el' d', which are operated by cams C on the main shaft C. This shaft carries a stout crank, E, which, as it revolves, traverses in the horizontal slot or yoke-frame t', which is rigidly connected by the rod t' to the piston or plunger I, which works with a suitable packing in the movable cylinder D. As the piston I is reciprocated up and down by the action of steam or other means, v(not represented,) the movable cylinder D moves with a quicker motion alternately up and down, and forms a tight contact with the interior of the casing A1 alternately at each end. A seat or face piece, a, ofj

moves upward by a rapid motion, transmitted through the rods d, and makes a tight contact at the top, leaving a similar liberal opening all around the bottom, through which the water may enter to follow the piston up. rlhe discharge of the water from the interior of the movable cylinder D is effected through the openings L, controlled by ring valves M, which are allowed to reciprocate vertically to a sufficient extent to make an ordinary opening for the delivery. The construction of these valves is peculiar. A iiat rubber ring, m, is traversed both by the rivets m1 and the thimbles m2,- surrounding the rivets. The rivets hold in rm contact with the lower face of the rubber, and hold a stout metal ring, N. This ring N is firmly pressed up against the rubber m, and also against the thimbles m2. The seat for the valve is recessed to receive the metal ring N.- Vhen the valve strikes its seat the rubber m bears fairly on each side of the recess and forms a tight joint. On the pressure of the valve to its sea-t becoming severe, the rubber m is compressed a little, on whichV the metal ring N strikes the bottom of the recess, which receives it and supports the pressure, so that the rubber cannot be any further compressed. rlhe openings L should be of a diameter about equal to the width of the ring N, and consequently of the annular recess in the seat which receives said ring. I prefer to taper these openings on the inner side, as indicated in Fig. 3, so as to give as free a passage for the water as possible. The inductionpassage al leads the water freely into the liberal chamber existing around the movable cylinder D, and allows a free passage for the movement of the water alternately into either end of the movable cylinder. NVhen, by the action of the piston I, it is expelled past the respective valves M, and is in the chamber be tween the casings A1 and A2, it moves along that chamber to the discharge-pipe a2, and is discharged at such velocity and under such pressure as the conditions may induce. My valves M may be guided by their centers, as represented, or by any other suitable means. Their faces actthrough rubber or other contact without being aii'ected by grit. So, also, the movable cylinder D makes and breaks its contact with the respective end pieces or seats a Without being aii'ected by grit; My pump can operate with any water, however subject to contain gritty particles, without liability to cut either valve or seat.

Many of the details may be modified in form or proportion within wide limits. The rubber seats a should be of sui'licient thickness to allow, by their yielding, not only for slight imperfections in the construction, and irregularities in the springing ot' parts of the machine when rapidly and severely strained, and form a tight contact at each movement, but also to allow for the presence ot' small masses of grit or other foreign material which will sometimes be caught between them and the abutting ends ofthe movable cylinder D.

Although I have described the pump as upright, it will be obvious that it can be operated at various inclinations or in a horizontal position. I have represented a spring under the lower valve M. In working the `machine in a horizontal position, it may be well to have a corresponding spring to act on each valve. lVhen driven by steam, the steam-piston may be on a continuation of the piston-rod z' and the valve or valves may be operated from the shaft C.

Instead of causing what I have termed the outer casing A2 to nearly inclose the inner casing A1, it may only extend along one side; but it is important that its ends cover the whole of the ends of A1, and that they be at a sucient distance to give a good space for the flow of Water from the valves M.

The movable cylinder D may receive the proper motion by other means than through the cams C', so long as it has a tolerably prompt motion from one eXtreme to the other of its movement, and then rests.

I claim as my invention- 1. In combination with the reciprocating piston I and suitable fixed casings and passages, the movable cylinder D, with its ends serving as valves, operated by abutting alternately against the fixed casing, so that the contact of the abutting end closes the Waterpassage and the breaking of such contact opens it, as and for the purposes herein specified.

2. In combination with a reciprocating piston and a reciprocating cylinder, D, with its ends abutting alternately against the iiXcd casings, the elastic seat-pieces a, adapted to yield and accommodate themselves to the ends of the cylinder, as herein specified.

3. The valves M, constructed with the rubber portion m, and with the stout met-al ring N, held firmly in position thereon, in combination with the corresponding` recessed seat, and adapted to operate therewith, as and for the purposes herein specified.

In testimony whereof` I have hereunto set my hand this 23d day of February, 1874, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

It. J. GOULD.

Titnessesz THOMAS D. STErsoN, M. A. VAN HAMEE. 

